


The Climb

by Diddle_Riddle



Series: Two Birthday Birds... and a Birthday Cat [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Aka the rare persons who believe in her, Best Friends, But Stephanie's real family, Character Study, Decisions, Evolution, Friends as Family, Friendship, Gen, I am watching you Eddie, It's not the Batfamily, No going back to yesterday, Siblings, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, Stephanie Brown is Batman, Stephanie Brown is Nightwing, Stephanie Brown is Robin, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Supportive best buddies, Team as Family, the road so far
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24390124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diddle_Riddle/pseuds/Diddle_Riddle
Summary: Five times Stephanie Brown felt like she stood against the world as she suited up a costume, and that one time everyone considered her the legitimate leader and hero of the situation.
Relationships: Edward Nygma & Jason Todd, Jonathan Crane/Edward Nygma, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Stephanie Brown & Edward Nygma, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd
Series: Two Birthday Birds... and a Birthday Cat [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882678
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	The Climb

"I am having fun."

Edward smiled. He always saw it coming, Stephanie dressing up to enter the vigilante world. After all, she has been talking about it since she was a child. They met a few years ago, kiddo Steph already boasted about becoming better than Batman.

Eddie totally believed she'll achieve this aim.

"Having fun is all that matters.", he encouraged. "It needs to stay a game, not to evolve into a war."

They shared a smile.

In the end... her dad offered her a golden opportunity to step up on her own.

Stephanie watched the sky above them. She wished the city's lights weren't as bright, she wanted to spot more stars in the ink black shape of the night.

"You think it can morph into... a proper thing for me?", she inquired, the shadow of _doubt_ staining her smooth tone.

"I sincerely do.", Riddler answered. "I am _persuaded_ it will work."

She took his hand, they gloved fingers interlaced in a gentle, habitual gesture.

The two of them were on the flat rooftop of a building, in their full stage costumes; with the exception of Steph who removed her white-eyed black hood and Ed who hadn't put his purple domino mask on.

"Here's what I think.", he revealed tenderly. "It doesn't matter your encounter with Batman didn't go as planned. He is a grumpy old killjoy, that he lacks the elementary brain cells to support you now _doesn't mean_ he won't recognize later he made a mistake. The single words he deemed useful to repeat over and over during our first contacts is that I should 'stop putting myself in danger by trying to play with the big boys', that I should rather 'go back to high school'. That was rude and humiliating."

"Humiliating but true.", she jeered. "It was _appropriate_ given your age when you began."

Eddie stuck out his tongue at her. Both of them ended up laughing.

Thirteen years old Stephanie Brown launched the Spoiler experience a few weeks ago. Edward followed meticulously her progresses, incredibly proud of his sister / daughter / shining sun.

She was doing great, she enjoyed making her own path in the Gotham life, even if... it's a road _more complicated_ to drive in than she predicted.

"... I wished someone said 'You've done a good job'.", she conceded later, in a weaker intonation. "Instead of 'You have nothing to do there dressed like this, go home little girl'."

Batman _literally_ exposed it like that. The third Robin didn't, he pretended to be her friend yet he treated her like a distraction. She was his pastime: he showed up and played with her when he wanted to, never sharing anything personal, not disclosing his _name_ while he knew hers. Not considering her a hero, not seeing her as... someone.

Just an eggplant girl laughing in her homemade costume and tools, who has fun doing what she wants.

As if there is... nothing serious. Nothing _real_ in her objective, that she is a ray of sun, pleasant, warm and around which you love to relax; but that will vanish as soon as the clouds hide her. As if Spoiler would disappear the way she appeared: one night out of the blue.

"Do not worry.", Eddie pledged quietly. "It's the bats-and-birds' traditional defense against what's new, beautiful and out of their control: they attempt to cast it out. They won't maintain such puerile approach with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh I am.", he smirked joyously. "Wanna know why? It's because I found a truthful, unflinching motto you must keep in mind. Whenever you're in doubt, remember this."

He winked then declared:

"To the Spoiler belongs the victory."

"How catchy!", she giggled. "I'm gonna use that sentence again."

_____

"We're doing it right.", Stephanie affirmed, a luminous smile on her lips.

"We are.", Eddie responded, as a warmth of a new kind invaded his chest.

He exited Arkham asylum. Not by _escaping,_ unlike what he did for over ten years; there he went out... by the front door. Via the official way. With his license that diagnoses him mentally sane; his sole restriction is to be banned from leaving town over the incoming year, during which he'll fulfill medical appointments one time a week with Joan Leland. The psychiatrist he became sort of friends with assured she'll take care of his complete reform follow-up.

This was more than he hoped for.

More than he thought he was... capable to accomplish. He _knew_ he would do it one day, that the Riddler won't be... definitive, that he'll turn this page of his life to open a new one in his book. Notwithstanding this, the unpredictable piece of the puzzle remained the _motive_ that will be powerful enough for him to tempt this bold change. He didn't foresee what the trigger will be.

Jonathan and him broke up... again, a few months ago. A breakup different than their previous ones, way more... violent between them. He wore the scars, memories of this night at every sense of the term. No going back for the two of them after this.

Ed could move on from Jon, from this life _at last_ because...

Robin.

She was breathtaking, in her version of the green, red and yellow costume. Stephanie Brown is just past seventeen when she becomes the Fourth Robin.

Edward Nygma couldn't be more proud.

Be that as it may... he was the _only one._

Bruce's comments during each session or mission echoed in Stephanie's head. They invariably sounded like "You think you impress me? Tim could do twice at this state of his training", "Keep it up, perhaps you'll reach half of Tim's level", "This is a rookie mistake Tim would have never made"... and so on.

He always brought the comparison with Drake he introduced as a role model while he is... the Robin who _left him,_ the _least capable_ of the previous birds. The one Bruce liked the less, the child he could barely _tolerate._ Why did he pretend he missed Tim as his sidekick? Why couldn't he admit he missed _Jason,_ that he put a cold, unfair distance with Stephanie because she reminded him of the son he loved and lost?

"The others are not better.", she remarked one evening Edward comforted her by bringing the parallel between her and the Second Robin; the excuse of the third Robin is Batman's defense mechanism, a quite _silly_ one since the Bat doesn't even appreciate Drake. "Batgirl is nice and stuff, I consider her a friend albeit she repeats I am 'not skilled enough'.", Steph pursued, she felt slightly miserable. "Oracle talks to me exclusively if Batgirl is around, for the rest she doesn't want anything to do with me. I didn't meet Nightwing, I'm sure he'd react the same. At our first encounter, Superboy said he wants to speak with 'the real Robin'. As if that meant anything."

"It doesn't.", Eddie brushed the erroneous designation aside. "The only meaningful data is that you are _Stephanie Brown,_ not an actor who wears a disguise. Your goal has never been to copy someone else. As for the fact you are not like your Robin predecessor? That's a _good thing:_ he is a complete psycho."

They laughed together.

It wasn't easy, that doesn't mean they won't succeed. They are _used_ to stand against the others to prove their worth, this is not a divergent target.

"One day they will agree.", she asserted.

Over the past months, efforts or not they were still seen as... outsiders.

"Batman, Red Robin, Batgirl, Oracle. Everyone.", Steph vindicated with a vibrant determination. "One day they will _finally_ acknowledge I am doing one Hell of a good job and you deserve this reform, that more than anyone you earned this second chance."

"They will."

The two shared a supportive smile before launching a new teamed-up case. Robin and newly Private Investigator Eddie Nygma, as a Dynamic Duo of their own.

Not because nobody believed in them among the persons supposed to be their close friends meant they can't believe in each other.

_____

Stephanie is Spoiler again and people think she usurped the title.

She returned to Gotham City after one year and a half away from the town, the country, the continent even.

Gotham betrayed her. Her Edward had an _accident_ during an investigation, severe enough for that he ended in a _coma._ Batman _fired her_ from the Robin position less than two weeks after this, leaving her alone, heartbroken. Abandoned by everyone she ever counted on.

Thereafter she 'died'. With her brother in a coma and nobody to miss her, she didn't request to go back to her birth town when she woke up, three weeks later, in Leslie Thompkins' company. From then she fulfilled missions with the old doctor in Africa; she recovered from her wounds at Black Mask's hands, trying as well to recover, internally, for herself.

She is healed now, she... cleansed her mind. That's why Spoiler reappeared in the Gotham streets. Edward had been cured from his comatose state. Unanticipated factor: he didn't remember his own name when he woke up, amnesic, in his hospital bed after a year in forced sleep. With assistance from devoted friends, he gradually recovered his memories.

By the time Stephanie arrived, he finalized to reclaim his knowledge, even if he stayed... fragile, easily exhausted. This aftermath won't be permanent, its impact will lessen in accordance with his progresses and rehabilitation. As she discovered, Eddie became best buddy with the new guy in town, going by 'Red Hood'. No surprise, Steph and Jason got along perfectly. She did the trip alongside with them, as their first... team mission. Edward intended to heal the brain cancer he contracted a few weeks ago by bathing in a Lazarus pit. He couldn't attain this aim without help, Jason planned the travel with him. Stephanie joined.

She felt alive. Wanted. Part of a _team_ who trusts her. She realized she never experienced this feeling with anyone else than Edward. Now they shared it with Jason.

Her brother was safe and sound. Only after they came back with a cured Eddie did Steph uncovered for the bats.

"You shouldn't have brought Spoiler back.", Bruce had judged harshly. "You have a second chance, do not waste it. Don't put yourself in danger and get a life, Stephanie."

"Why didn't you tell me you were alive?", Tim had frowned. "I taught you everything, you should have told me. You _owe_ me."

"I hope this will serve as a lesson.", Barbara had reckoned. "You can't be a vigilante."

"Steph, you cannot restart with this situation.", Cassandra had besought, albeit mildly sorry she was resolute: "I am so glad you're back. But please, go home."

Of course at first they've been happy to see her. At least Tim and Cass. She wasn't sure for Bruce and Babs... they never liked her anyway. Nevertheless it _hurt_ that after welcoming her, their immediate reaction has been to try to make her quit. Again.

Her relationship with the bats-and-birds didn't evolve over the following months. Steph tossed these poisoned thoughts aside.

She was with Edward and Jason. They took her as she is, not as they wanted her to be. They don't care that she is not the wisest, not the prettiest, not the strongest, not the smartest.

None of them cares that they are not perfect. That they are closer to wrecks than to heroes.

No matter what, no one will take that away: wrecks or not, together they _are_ the very best. The cream of the crop.

_____

Stephanie is Batgirl and at the beginning of this... achievement, she doesn't feel anything about it. She should be glad, enthusiastic, proud, over the moon... She isn't.

Cassandra took off her uniform on a rooftop under a rainy night before disappearing for Hong-Kong; God knows how long she'll be away. That's it, that's the story. Steph doesn't like how the mantle has been passed on to her.

"She hasn't done it for me.", she outlined, anger barely contained. "She has done it because of her daddy issues! Because she couldn't yell her wrath at Bruce and I happened to be 'the girl present at the moment'. She didn't even _look at me_ when she gave me her uniform!"

"Steph..."

"No.", she cut off. "You know it's true."

Sadly, there's no point to deny that. Jason grumbled "The bats _suck_ ", Edward didn't answer.

Cassandra threw the suit at her face in regards to her personal problems. Tim didn't come to Gotham in months, whereas he knew about Stephanie being the Third Batgirl he didn't say a word. Nothing. As if it... wasn't worthy of his attention. Barbara acted her usual self: she reminded Steph has nothing to do there. That this is not her world. Not her role, not her life.

"I'll show them.", she promised, the rage that boiled in her organism giving her the burning motivation and ever-lasting commitment to _keep going._ "I'll show them all. _Again._ Until they recognize, at _last,_ how wrong they were about me!"

Mere weeks later, Barbara offered her an upgraded uniform, which Edward entirely designed for it to reflect Stephanie's spirit in the legacy.

She suited the elegant bodysuit with purple straps, she... felt more like _someone._

Steph met Dick Grayson not long after she hanged out in _her_ Batgirl attire, no longer Cassandra's. Not an intelligent guy but a funny one, whom took the Batman mantle during a replacement period whilst Bruce is indisposed. Dead? Neither Stephanie, Edward nor Jason believed it. It would require more to kill Bruce Wayne; he'll come back for sure.

"The world is yours.", Eddie had smiled the first night she stood in her new outfit. "Let's just claim it."

It fastly became evident... that she _did._ Gotham is her town after all. The city's blood runs in her veins, it's legitimate she continues her path as one of its main vigilantes.

Who cares that the bats don't think of her as able? She is better. Tougher than the rest. More determined than any of them and contrary to them she is _impossible_ to discourage.

Nineteen years old and a half Stephanie _will_ prove herself. As Batgirl.

_____

The Nightwing emblem remained unused for years.

When Dick became a father, shortly after he became a husband, he left the vigilante life. He'll always be there to assist if his friends needed him, but officially speaking he turned his back to this world, he engaged in a new one. He has done his part, _more_ than his part, for so long. He deserved this retirement.

"You could have found a better option.", Tim Drake noted when he saw Stephanie wearing her variant of the costume for the first time.

"You _could have_ found a remedy to be less dumb, yet clearly, you didn't.", she retorted.

This exchange got punctuated as they attacked each other.

To cut a long story short, Steph would explain Tim... changed. He _drastically_ changed, starting whilst she was Batgirl. Bruce was back as Batman for a couple of years when his once-ward's transformation occured.

Red Robin became a villain. By now, a... main, deadly villain going by Phoenix. Leader of his team, comprised of: newly chosen as a Yellow Lantern Jonathan Crane; formerly known 'Enigma' the girl who showed up out of nowhere saying she is Ed's daughter, who ended up disappointed in him.

Esther Castle for her civilian name, charted to meet and team up with the Riddler from the instant she learned their kinship. Thorn in her side: it's been _years_ Edward reformed. He won't ever go back to his old ways, _certainly not_ for a girl whose existence he never heard about. She meant nothing to him; he won't follow her, won't destroy everything he built for the insignificant reason they share genetics. The solution Esther elected as an answer to this firm, absolute refusal has been to drag her friend Duela Dent into joining the raising menace in town. Once accepted in Tim and Jonathan's team, the two women changed their stage names, to respectively call themselves Mockingjay and Magpie.

Batgirl fought against those opponents since they appeared. Now Stephanie will fight all the same, against them and the other threats, as _Nightwing._

She has been Batgirl for ten years, she transferred the icon to Nell during her, _wanted this time,_ pregnancy. An adequate timing to pass the emblem, same moment as when Damian gave up on the Robin title.

Steph hadn't envisioned taking this specific name, it... gained a foothold, like a calling: her hero attire post-pregnancy, when baby Taylor Brown was four months old, has been Nightwing.

As for her team... some names may change, the dynamic stays the same.

Nightwing, Oracle and Red Hood.

Not Barbara but Edward Nygma, he took the Oracle title a few years ago when Babs got involved in politics. Barbara Grayson, supported by her husband, her two children and the extended family and friends, will celebrate her first anniversary as Mayor of Gotham next month.

To Eddie, the Nightwing position is an appropriate step. As he pointed out, constantly teasing the First Robin: "You'll bring the class, grace and wit Dick failed to offer to the name". Jason –who as for him will probably never change of stage appellation...– complemented: "It sounds neat. Wanna know what costume you'll wear after this? I see it coming Blondie: next time, you'll become Batman."

As for the others... well, the usual: nothing. Barbara didn't say anything; Cassandra granted her a sharp nod when she saw her in a black and purple bodysuit with the wings on her chest; Bruce... disapproved.

"Nightwing is my son.", he told her, after over a month of her wearing the uniform. "I don't get why _you_ are the one who took this name after him."

Stephanie didn't dignify this with a response. She was an adult, a _mother_ moreover. She was no longer a little girl playing dress-up who longed to prove herself. She _proved herself,_ repeatedly, she had no intention to let an irascible grandpa alter her merited self-pride.

She had her team. Why would she care about a grumpy old bat who can't get over the fact he was _wrong_ and can't recognize he _misdjuged her?_ Her team supports her, loves her and stands by her side.

Her family. The persons who really matter to her.

Nonetheless... she earned it. She felt like everyone should agree, not just her closest friends with whom she shares a siblings-like bond.

Why couldn't the others tell her she deserves it? Why couldn't they tell the _truth_ for once, even after all this time?

_____

When Stephanie put down the bat cowl on the upper part of her face, she felt... alive.

She thought it would seem wrong, awkward. She never planned on taking up _this_ mantle, she _shouldn't have had to_ because... Cassandra shouldn't be dead.

Her gloved fists clenched. It is legitimate _she_ takes up the role. For the first time in her life, nobody contested or tried to make her quit.

Batman watched her predecessor's costume, exposed in its glass presentation in the Batcave.

Stephanie's suit doesn't modify much the usual dress code, the inside of her cape is simply of a... dark eggplant color in place of Cass' grey shade.

She took a deep breath. She wasn't scared, or sad. Or angry. She was... serene. Her becoming Batman is the coherent continuation, everyone could tell this. That it happens under tragic and revolting circumstances is an issue the Batfamily won't heal from; as for her Batman run in itself? It's not out of spite she stepped in the role. Part of her feelings is a strong sense of duty, the other is... the impression it's the right thing to do.

The _normal_ thing to do for her.

"How beautiful."

Stephanie turned to the familiar voice. Although he approached his mid fourties, regardless the age Edward Nygma's childish enthusiasm, his smug smirk and his boastful attitudes remain unchanged.

"You see that.", she bragged in her brand new suit. "I am the best."

"You've always been."

The two of them hugged. They've been through Hell and back together, they did _everything_ together, he is the unique person who believed in her since _before_ her beginnings as Spoiler, so many years ago.

So many _lives_ ago.

"How badly do you think things will... go, now?", she whispered when they pulled away from the hug.

Edward kept quiet a few seconds.

"Badly.", he eventually echoed her chosen word. "Lots of lines have been crossed over the years, lots of boundaries have been pushed by so many persons, some we _loved._ But this? It is... unprecedented. Unforgiveable."

Not the first time a Batfamily member died. The Dead Robins Club certified this better than anyone, they confirmed death is not as _permanent_ as one could expect it to be.

Except when it is.

Except when it's... fate.

They organized the funerals last month.

It had been a very emotional celebration. People dressed in black in the summer weather. Such... sorrow. Family, friends, everyone. All in black this sunny day. Cassandra and Kon-El's eight years old son, Bruce Junior, held Stephanie's hand the whole time his parents' burial lasted. He didn't say a word.

Phoenix killed Batman. Mockingjay and Magpie helped him finish the job with Superman when Kon-El fell in the trap the three of them set up, as he tried, and failed, to save his wife Cassandra.

Jonathan Crane wasn't present in this scheme that officially sent Tim, Esther and Duela as too far gone to be saved or redeemed to their eyes. Scarecrow hasn't been spotted since then. As if he concluded his teammates' actions crossed one line too many and he didn't want to be associated with them anymore.

Lately the rumor murmured Drake will change his name from Phoenix to Dark Phoenix, to highlight his victory that ended with the death of the two Knights.

Timothy Drake murdered Cassandra Cain-Wayne and Kon-El Wayne.

An entire book closed that night, with no going back to yesterday.

As dreadful as the act is... it doesn't ring the death knell of _ending._ Nothing ever truly ends in Gotham, things are in the midst of a perpetual transformation. Sometimes it's radical. As long as there is someone to take up the fight however, the legacy stays alive.

As the adage says... the show must go on. This is Gotham's rule number one.

"You're gonna make a wonderful job."

Stephanie smiled at Eddie's forever supportive analysis.

"No question Blondie.", Jason backed-up. "Ya're the best of them. The best of us."

"And for once.", Edward winked. "I am no longer the only one to say that."

"I am here too.", Jay reminded.

The three of them laughed before they hugged. They were eager to see what tomorrow will be made of.

One day they will explain. Stephanie will have to tell her for now five years old daughter and Cass' eight years old son that this man, leader of the team who made Bruce Jr. an orphan, used to be... a friend. That in the past, Tim Drake was Cassandra's brother, Kon-El's best friend... Bruce Wayne's ward. Bruce, the first one, suffered many losses; none that devastated him as much as this one: having his grandson orphaned at the age he lost his parents, losing his daughter and his son-in-law who both lived at Wayne Manor with him. Knowing they've been killed at the hands of a boy he once trained as his _sidekick._

"It's yours.", he addressed Steph a weak smile as he watched Cassandra's Batman uniform in the Batcave, next to his own he hadn't suited up from the night of Joker's death, what had been the trigger for him to pass on the run to Cass. "And Stephanie? I... I am proud of you.", he confessed, his metallic blue eyes riveted on the golden bat-shape printed on Cassandra's armor.

He finally looked at her to complete:

"I've always been. Just like the rest of us, even if we don't... explicitly say or express it."

"I know.", she put a hand on his upper arm, in a comforting gesture. "Thank you, Bruce."

The Bat left without another word. This was more than Steph thought she'll obtain from him.

This world, this road, these adventures, this... whole universe of theirs.

It was not just a cape and cowl. Not just a name. It was a symbol.

A... legacy.

In which nobody climbed farther than her. She is always ready to get in, always ready for the fight or to take up the challenge. For herself and her team, her family but also for... the _life_ that comes with the costume. Her life. Her reality.

Now it is time for Stephanie Brown to raise up the game to the next level.

As Batman.


End file.
